Councilman Norman C. Braddock said he’s not satisfied with the ongoing state police probe examining the shooting of Milton S. Hall, a 49-year-old man who police say was acting aggressively with a knife in a plaza parking lot on July 1.

The remarks came during an emotional evening when about 60 residents packed the standing-room only council chambers at City Hall, where witnesses to the shooting and outraged citizens alike said the killing — which reportedly involved police shooting more than 40 times at Hall — was not justified.

Braddock said he’s received several calls from constituents who say they witnessed the shooting. The councilman said those conversations paint a portrait of an unnecessary shooting.

“This community is traumatized,” Braddock said. “I'm traumatized.

"Every person who tells me they saw this happen, they say the same thing," he said. "It's like a horror movie."

Braddock said each conversation featured details “consistent” with other eyewitness accounts.

The councilman said he wants city officials to approach prosecutors with Bay City’s federal court "and have them look into an investigation of their own."

Mayor Pro Tem Dennis Browning, a former Saginaw police officer, called for patience.

“I may not always agree with our judicial system, but that's the one we have right now,” Browning said. “I think we need to let that one play out. I'm not opposed to federal investigations, but the process is there.”

A former council member, Joyce Seals, was critical of the municipality where she once served as mayor.

“Mr. Milton Hall is dead and many bystanders, including children, are traumatized," Seals said when she spoke as a member of the audience.

Seals said some citizens have compared the shooting to watching someone "gunned down by a firing squad.”

“It sets a sour tone in our community,” Seals said. “I realize you have the state police investigation ... but the protocol to shoot down a homeless man must be reviewed.

“Make sure you do justice,” she told the council, including two members she once served alongside. “We are watching. And we will be back.”

A number of residents called for a deeper investigation. Others asked for the city to remove from the payroll all six police officers involved in the shooting until the investigation is finished. The officers remain on paid administrative leave as the investigation continues.

One speaker, Pastor Cirven D. Merrill, called the shooting of Hall, who was black, “racism.” Merrill also asked for an independent investigation by the U.S. Attorney General’s office.

Terry Pruitt, a member of the Saginaw chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said his organization is asking for answers to a number of questions including:

Why did police use the force they used?

Why weren't other methods used?

Why was he shot at more than 40 times?

“Clearly the indication here is that this was excessive,” Pruitt said.